Poultry trough



y 11, 1939- D. H. HILL 2,165,968

POULTRY TROUGH Filed Jan. 22, 1938 INVENTOR.

A T'TOR NEYS Patented July 11, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE POULTRY TROUGH poration;

Application January 22, 1938, Serial No. 186,349

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a poultry trough for feeding or watering, and particularly the adjustable legs for supporting it off the ground.

Heretofore there have been proposed a number of types of supports for such troughs wherein the supporting legs are adjustably connected with the trough. It is the purpose of this invention to provide a simplified arrangement of this character such as may be more economical to manufacture, rigid, fool-proof and simple to manipulate. Thus, there are no screws, thumb nuts or the like required for eiiecting the adjustment. All that is necessary is to pinch the wire standards of the legs together and slide them up or down through a suitable bracket support until interlocked under spring tension at the desired position by engagement of a shoulder or notch.

Other objects and features of the invention will be understood from the accompanying drawing and the following description and claim:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a trough embodying the adjustable legs. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the trough showing a plan View of the leg construction. Fig. 3 is a section taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

In the drawing there is illustrated a trough having side walls It, a bottom H and end walls :2. The side and bottom walls extend slightly beyond the end walls to provide protruding flanges l3. Said trough is particularly adapted as a feeding trough for baby chicks or the like and is provided with the usual reel, shown herein rotatably supported by the end walls l2 adjacent the upper portions thereof, as is commonly used in feed troughs of this character.

Riveted or otherwise secured to the end walls 12 there are brackets l4 each having an outwardly extending perforated locking plate 15 formed thereon. Said bracket is mounted substantially centrally of the end wall and immediately above and in vertical alignment with a slot l6 provided in the bottom flange 13.

The legs are formed of Wire bent U-shaped to provide a standard ll comprising two shanks and the outwardly and oppositely disposed feet l8 continuing from the lower portion of the U- shaped standard. The legs are made of spring metal so that the shanks of the U-shaped portions may be squeezed together but will normally tend to spread apart under spring tension.

The U-shaped standard ll extends upwardly through the slot It in the flange i3 and through the slot or perforation in the plate 15.

The shanks of the U-shaped standard have their outer surfaces provided with a plurality of notches or shoulders It so formed as to engage and look under spring tension with the plate l5 or the edges of the slot 3.

By means of this construction, the standards of the legs are supported at two spaced locations thereon by the plate 15 and the edges of the slot l6. They are adjustable longitudinally through the slots or perforations therein so that the feed trough may be supported at varying heights from the ground. Adjustment may be secured by pinching the shanks of the standards together so as to unlock the notches i9 engaging the plate or flange, thus permitting sliding movement of the desired position. Release of the shanks permits them to spring apart so as to permit any pair of notches I9 to be slid into interlocking engagement With the plate or flange. In such adjusted position, the trough will be firmly supported.

The invention claimed is:

In combination, a trough having a bottom and end walls, a guide bracket on each wall, said bottom having a slot in each end vertically alined with its respective bracket, and a standard for each end comprising a spring wire bent intermediate its ends into U-shape to provide substantially parallel portions, said portions being spaced apart a distance substantially equal to the width of said slot and bracket and having a tendency to spring apart, notches on the sides of said portions to engage in the ends of said slot and adjacent edges of the guide bracket, said notches including supporting shoulders disposed at right angles to said standard to engage with the ends of said slot and adjacent edges of said bracket, and the extremities of said portions being deflected divergently to form supporting feed, said shoulders constituting stops to prevent downward movement of the trough relative to the parallel portions when the ends of the slot and adjacent edges of the bracket are in supporting engagement on the shoulders.

DEWEY H. HILL. 

